April 24, 2010 - The Tower

Once again I asked the one thing I needed to learn/know that would lead me the quickest to happiness.  Of course, the Tower came up.   Death came up before when I asked a similar question.  Endings, transitions, change that comes as a surprise, painfully.  Change is hard for me and yes, if I could master my response to it, greet inevitable change with a "yes" as opposed to kicking and screaming, I'd be a lot happier.  How we respond to the change the Tower brings makes all the difference.

In the Jane Austen Tarot, the Tower depicts a pivotal scene in Jane's last novel, Persuasion.  Louisa Musgrove, a beautiful and impetuous young woman decides to jump again from the quay.  Up she runs and impulsively leaps before Frederick Wentworth can ready himself to catch her.  Louisa falls and loses consciousness.  It is the quick thinking of Anne that sends someone familiar with the town for the doctor.  It is this calm, competent response that reminds Captain Wentworth why he fell in love with Anne years ago and fans the flames of that love.  It is a terrible event but from it comes joy for Anne and Captain Wentworth, and perhaps Louisa too, who finds a man more suited to her.  This is perhaps the key to the Tower.  Change is change, neither good nor bad.  It's how we accept change that makes the difference.  I wonder if I had faced the change that came to me 3 years ago in a more accepting way, if things would have turned out differently.  I have come to a place where I have to believe it was for the best.

So yes, to change, the wonderful surprises and the startling ones.  Yes to the inevitables and inexorables, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  I'm ready for happiness.  As for how I do in learning to ride the waves of change, I'll keep you posted.